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Order of the Stick
The Order of the Stick (often abbreviated to either TOotS or simply OotS) is an adventuring party that was first formed to slay the sorcerer lich Xykon and prevent him from taking over or destroying the world through the use of the gates holding back the creature known as the Snarl. Members Core Members *'Roy Greenhilt' - Lawful Good Male Human Fighter. Aged 29, Roy is the leader of the Order of the Stick. He is a son with Eric and Julia of famed illusionist Eugene and Sara Greenhilt, and the grandson of legendary fighter Horace Greenhilt. **''"...their battle-hardened leader, Roy Greenhilt, veteran fighter."'' *'Haley Starshine' - Chaotic Good Female Human Rogue. Aged 25, Haley is a veteran archer and the Order's second-in-command, as well as Roy's advisor on more devious lines of thought. She is the daughter of first-edition thief Ian Starshine and his deceasedComic 772, "Haley's Commitment" wife, Mia. **''"The roguish Haley Starshine, whose deadly aim is matched only by her beauty."'' *'Durkon Thundershield' - Lawful Good Male Dwarven Cleric. Aged 55, Durkon is the Order's primary healer. He was killed in action while fighting the vampire cleric Malack at Girard's Gate and his body was possessed by the negative spirit acting as the High Priest of Hel for a time. He is the son of former Dwarvern Army soldiers Sigdi and Tenrin Thundershield. **''"The always dependable Durkon Thundershield, dwarven cleric."'' *'Elan' - Chaotic Good Male Human Bard/Dashing Swordsman. Aged 22, Elan is often viewed as the least competent member of the Order, though this view has began diminishing after he took levels in Dashing Swordsman. He is also the Order's secondary healer after gaining a few healing spells and a Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds. He is a twin son with Nale by a de facto leader of the Empire of Blood, Tarquin and his formerComic 50, "The Semi-Secret Origin of Elan & Nale" wife. **''"Elan the Bard, minstrel extraordinaire and master of enchantment."'' *'Vaarsuvius' - True Neutral Gender Ambiguous Elven Wizard. An extremely skilled arcane user and evoker, Vaarsuvius is the Order's most powerful member. An apprentice to Master Aarindarius, V has 2 children with their formerComic 678, "First Step in the Process" mate, Inkyrius. **''"The mysterious Vaarsuvius, keeper of a thousand arcane secrets."'' * Belkar Bitterleaf - Chaotic Evil Male Halfling Ranger/Barbarian. A bloodthirsty berserker, Belkar is one of the most dangerous members of the Order. Much of his past is unrevealed, but he claims to be ostracized in the halfling community for being unusually small for halfling standards.Comic 125, "Free Experience" **''"Halfling ranger Belkar Bitterleaf, the world's best tracker under four feet tall."'' Pets and Animal Companions * Blackwing '- ''True Neutral Male Raven Familiar. Originally forgotten by his master Vaarsuvius and serving as a running gag, he plays a more permanent and useful role after the Familicide. * 'Mr. Scruffy '- True Neutral ''Male Cat Animal Companion. Originally Lord Shojo's pet housecat as part of his ruse, Belkar has taken him as his animal companion after his former master's death, being a humanizing factor on Belkar. * [[Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator|'Bloodfeast the Extreme-inator]] - True Neutral ''Male Allosaurus/Lizard. Originally used for gladiatorial combat in the Empire of Blood's arena as well a mounted unit in the army, it was befriended by Belkar. It was later turned into a lizard by Miron Shewdanker with a Baleful Polymorph spell after pursuit of the Vector Legion. Other Companions * 'Minrah Shaleshoe' - ''Lawful Good Female Dwarf Fighter/Cleric. A late addition to the party, she was a former guard turned cleric assistant overnight caretaker acolyte of Thor at the temple in Firmament who offered her aid to the Order during their hunt for the vampire High Priest of Hel "Durkon" to stop him and his cohort from interfering with the Council of Clans' vote. She officially joined them on their hunt for Xykon after Hel's plot was thwarted,Comic 1180, "+1" though she is not a full-fledged member of the Order but rather a cohort to Durkon.Utterly Dwarfed Temporary Companions * Miko Miyazaki '- ''Lawful Good ''Female Human Paladin. The strongest and most zealous member of the Sapphire Guard, she was sent to capture the Order and bring them to Azure City to stand for their crimes. She accompanied them for around 44 pages escorting them. * 'Celia '- ''Lawful Good ''Female Sylph Lawyer. Working for Dorukan in his dungeon, she later gave up to become a lawyer after being turned to stone by the Linear Guild. She then defended the Order in their trial, and got romantically engaged with Roy. She later got summoned by Haley in Don't Split the Party, where she accompanied her and Belkar for most of the book. * 'Hilgya Firehelm - Chaotic Neutral/Evil Dwarf Cleric. A former member of the Linear Guild, a one-night stand with Durkon left her pregnant with his son. She is assisting the Order against "Durkon" to get her revenge on the man who impregnated her, then spurned her. Enemies * Team Evil - The Order's main adversaries, they were originally formed with the intention of putting an end to Team Evil's leader, Xykon. They've since been opposing them in their efforts to claim one of the gates of the Snarl, though Team Evil hasn't truly recognized them as a threat until the destruction of Girard's Gate, where Redcloak realized that they are directly opposing them and their plan by protecting the gates. * The Linear Guild - Once the Order's main recurring foes, the Linear Guild is now a shadow of its former self. Formerly led by Elan's Lawful Evil twin brother Nale, the Linear Guild has fought the Order several times in the past for petty and disproportionate reasons, though Nale eventually attempted to take the gates' power for his own before his death at the hands of his father. * The Vector Legion - Though the Vector Legion and the Order have never formally fought, Elan's father, General Tarquin, has fought the Order after the destruction of Girard's Gate and attempted to murder them in order to drive the story in the direction he wanted by calling upon the army of the Empire of Blood and his allies in the Legion, Miron Shewdanker and Laurin Shattersmith. * Hel and her allies - The Order opposes the Northern Goddess of Death's attempt to destroy the world and reap the thousands of souls of dwarves who will die dishonorably, which would give her enough power to make her the lead deity of the next world that would be created. In addition to her High Priest and his small party of former Creed of the Stone clerics, she had a clan of Frost Giants at her disposal through Thrym, whom she promised would be her consort in the next world. Alternate Continuities Two alternate continuities are known to have their own versions of the Order and of its individual members. One is that of the Dragon magazine strips, which was later extended with both Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales and with the later Gygax Magazine strips. The other, considerably more divergent, is that of the Edition Wars: Invaders from the Fourth Dimension party, influenced by Fourth Edition rules. Its only apperance was in that feature, published in Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales (where they seek and end up in conflict with the Dragon Magazine version of the Order). References Category:Factions Category:Order of the Stick